


Renaissance

by TheSphinxDen



Category: Gravity Falls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-06
Updated: 2014-10-06
Packaged: 2018-02-20 03:04:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2412605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSphinxDen/pseuds/TheSphinxDen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events of Dark Ages, Mabel finds Gideon in a state of despair and tries her best to help. Grownup AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Renaissance

It was a shame. All of those years completely wasted in childhood treachery, too absorbed in supernatural lollygagging to really see beyond any shred of broken glass. Gideon sat in his big, comfortable chair in the back room of his newly purchased home. Accommodating life after prison had been difficult. Nine years in the joint and two after spent in institutions for behaviorally challenged individuals had left him with little sense of material value. Outside of his state, one might have questioned his depression - after all, being a homeowner and a millionaire at the ripe age of twenty wasn’t a normality in the small quiet suburb just outside of old Gravity Falls.

He couldn’t remember when he last left his chair. He melted into it, white hair usually so pampered and primed left unruly and uncombed. Strands of it poked at his cheeks. His newly grown sideburns were itchy, but he didn’t have the energy to scratch at them. He kept a quilt draped over him, and watched silently as raindrops pattered down softly against the frosted glass of his window.

That’s when he heard the knock and a familiar voice.

"Gideon?"

The retired psychic took a tired eye’s moment to glance unknowingly down the hallway.

"It’s me…Mabel. Uh. I heard about your mom. I’m really sorry…I just wanted to check on you. Me and Dipper haven’t heard from you in days and we’re really worried."

Gideon hesitated. He felt chained, his legs and arms were so heavy when he finally moved them and answered the door. Mabel’s gasp of surprise was audible enough to make him blush with shame. Oh, he had forgotten how amazingly terrible he looked.

"…Are you okay?" Mabel’s voice peaked with concern. They stood awkwardly, Mabel on her heels and leaning towards the open doorway. "You look like you haven’t brushed your hair in days, and that’s not like you at all…"

"I know."

"Can I come inside?"

"Sure…"

Mabel shrugged off her jacket and set her umbrella by the coat hanger, trying hard to be more oblivious to the unkempt state of her newly rekindled friend. For the sake of his pride, she figured. The least thing she wanted to do was accidentally offend him. Carefully, she sat on the floor next to his big chair.

"Here, I know it’s not much but I made you this." she pulled a small plastic pan wrapped in tin foil from her hand stitched cat bag and presented it to him. "Chocolate always made me feel better when I was sad. Dipper actually taught me how to make them. He’s weirdly good at baking because he likes to measure things and it’s "sciencey"." she threw up her hands and wiggled her fingers to exaggerate her point. Gideon quietly accepted her gift and unfolded a corner of the foil, pleased to find the fresh, slightly crusty surface of a homemade chocolate lava cake inside.

"…Thank you, Mabel darlin’. Ya didn’t have ta do that for me."

"It’s what friends are for, right? Plus I was just really worried about you and needed an excuse to come over and see your new house." she laughed softly.

Gideon stared silently at the tin foil, still unbelieving how easily Mabel had forgiven him.

"…Gideon?"

He felt stinging in his eyes and tried to breathe, but it felt like his lungs were on fire. And then he collapsed. The emotional damage proved to be too much, and he fell apart at the delicate, half restrung seams that had composed his being since violent birth. Mabel watched for a second, scared and unsure what do to, then did the only thing she knew how. She embraced him tightly and tried to wait out the storm.

"…I was an awful son, Mabel." Gideon whispered as he regained a bit of calm. "All my momma wanted from me was a good son. A good son. I couldn’t even give her that. No. I…I tormented her. I made her life a living hell…" his body shuddered violently. The memories chewed at his stomach, with big bloody teeth and a vengeful tongue. "I never even told her that I loved her, until it was too late and I was standin’ over her grave…"

Mabel scrambled for the right words. It was harder this time, more personal. “Gideon. You’re not the same person now, though. You’ve changed, and she saw that before she passed on. Remember?” the scruffy, white haired man nodded and babbled something incomprehensible through his tears. He wiped his nose with the back of his massive hand and tried once again to stabilize himself. “…And I think she knows it now too, that you’re doing better.” Mabel placed a hand on his trembling shoulder. “It’s never too late to change. And you’ve already done it.”

Gideon glanced sideways at her, his blue eyes dull, drained, and ultimately filled with an unimaginable exhaustion. This act was getting old. As he aged, he found less and less value in seeking half-handed paranormal treasures. The true treasure was tucked away in the here and now, the value of friends and family, of trust, love and security. It had been too late for him to realize it. And when he did, it hit him with the hammer of death from the one that he should have loved and cherished the most.

"Mabel…I’m really sorry for everything."

"I know. You’ve apologized enough. Like a billion times."

"It can’t erase what I did."

"No one can. But hey…you can always paint over it, right? Like when I mess up with my oils or acrylics I just paint over them. Sometimes with brighter colors so it looks prettier and I like it more. You can do that with yourself. Right?"

It took a long moment for Gideon to realize the hidden wisdom of her words.

"Right…but what if my old painting is ugly and still wet? What if it’s hard to paint over…?"

"No one said it would be easy, but you just gotta take up your brush and start somewhere."

Gideon nodded, finally drying the tears from his eyes. Mabel leaned close to him after a minute of peaceful silence, grinning. “You know,” she chuckled. “The best Renaissance painters usually painted over their old stuff. And they made masterpieces.” she put her finger in his chest. “That can be you one day. I know it can.”

Eventually the grey rainclouds broke apart and sun rays greeted his frosted window plane. The two spent the remainder of the afternoon sharing Mabel’s homemade chocolate lava cake until Gideon finally felt better enough that he wrapped his hair and fell into a peaceful rest. He hoped tomorrow would be similar, and he was ready to bring his new arsenal of spiritual paint brushes if he needed them.


End file.
